Tuesday, 26 September 2017

Lightbulb

I came over all unnecessary yesterday!

Mr Tesco sent me some vouchers. That seems to happen quite often these days. He send me a voucher to spend if my shopping basket exceeds a certain amount. In this case I could spend £50 and save £7 but I have to get the order on or before 2nd October. I went into on-line overdrive and managed to sort a basket of £50.07 which would cost me £43.07 (plus £1 delivery) so I would "save" £7.

But I wouldn't really save anything. I would spend £43.07. True some of that would be things I need like eggs, bread, butter, One way or another I really will need those things very soon. Soon after that I will need pasta, olive oil. In the not-too-distant future I will need Braeburns, Stilton, celery and tomatoes. (OK, Stilton might not be a necessity for you, but it keeps me happy.)

You get the picture. When I sit down coolly and rationally, I can see that rather than a £50 delivery from Tesco a couple of much smaller spends from Lidl would save me far more than £7. Yes, in a few weeks I will need a delivery. But not yet. The moths can stay in my bank account for a few weeks longer. Even Mr Tesco sent me £5 vouchers to use next month if I need to.

8 comments:

Publix has a $10 gas card for those who spend $50 in one visit. I might spend that all month. I am certainly not going to purchase so much at once when veg and fruits would not last that long. Besides, Publix prices are very high.

I get what you're saying here. I had the Tesco vouchers too, but like you I concluded that the savings didn't justify the spending. If I am in sainsbury's and get a "£5 off a spend" voucher at the checkout, I try to give it away to another shopper who can use it immediately.

The big supermarkets are all about you spending your money today, they know so many people will see the voucher and focus on the savings rather than do we need this much shopping. They just want you to be in the habit of spending large sums each week.

that is the same sort of thing that has happened with me and the "big box" stores -- warehouse shopping, if you will. It all looks like great bargains until you realize you have bought way too much and a lot of it goes expired before you can eat it which is, of course, no savings at all. We now buy small, organic and close to home. I throw a lot less away which to me is money in the bank.

For the most part I would agree with you, but it suits me to have a home delivery occasionally. Going to the shops is a twenty mile round trip, a serious consideration. Add to that the fact that I am disabled and it is easier for me to get heavy things delivered and also that I prefer to have frozen food delivered and it becomes a good bet for me to do a very occasional on-line shop.